Walther PPS: Pre-Range Review

This is a discussion on Walther PPS: Pre-Range Review within the Defensive Carry Guns forums, part of the Defensive Carry Discussions category; I picked up a Walther PPS at the store today, it was painful shelling out the $615 after tax, but the excitement when I made ...

Walther PPS: Pre-Range Review

I picked up a Walther PPS at the store today, it was painful shelling out the $615 after tax, but the excitement when I made it home soon took over!

I took it out of the box and disassembled it, it breaks down very easily with no tools. I am overly impressed with the quality of the entire firearm inside and out. The entire guns just screams precision and quality. The polymer is very strong, even at the thin points on the grip, very sturdy, more so than other guns I have. I'm not positive if the slide is stainless or not. It does not appear blued, so I am unsure of the finish. I'm hoping it is blackened stainless!

Comparing it to my PF-9, it is about .25" longer, about the same height (with the 6 rd mag), and the same exact width. It is quite a bit heavier, about 7 oz. if I remember correctly, but with this weight comes a more reliable gun that will withstand much more abuse.

A couple of things that immediately stand out and impress me. The captive dual recoil spring rod is very nice. Makes for an easier disassembly and is all steel, very sturdy. The sight radius is quite long for a 3.2" barreled handgun, guess a benefit of a striker fired guns layout (first striker fired gun here). The magazine release, although I have to say I thought I'd hate it, feels natural and intuitive using the middle finger. The trigger has a very very crisp feel and has a very short pull, I can't imagine a striker fired gun having a much better trigger than this, feels around 5 lbs, but I have not fired many other striker fired guns.

The barrel rides smoothly and with no play in the slide, very tight and a very solid lockup is noticeable. The slide mates up very tight to the frame with almost no side to side play. The frame also has slide rails that run the length of the slide travel, which is nice, no small frame rail area in the front and back, but the WHOLE length. I don't foresee this gun every having any problems with failures to feed. There is a feed ramp on the barrel as usual, but it is extended even lower by meeting up with a feed ramp extension that is part of the guns frame and goes well below where a bullet tip would ever contact. A good peace of mind and it is polished very very well. And last, a couple of purely an aesthetic things, the ejection port is very stylish in its shape; adds a bit of complication to the guns look, and the stippling on the front and back of the grip is done by hand!

I haven't had the chance to shoot it yet, can't wait though. From what I have heard, it does not recoil bad at all because of its medium weight and its low bore axis.

I picked up an Uncle Mikes size 12 IWB clip holster, fits quite well for $10.